


The Mothman of Naboo Lake

by AnaBolyn



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: 1950s B movie, Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Brief mentions of Vampira, But he is very nice and we love him, But who (or what) is our mystery monster?, F/M, Happy Halloween, Hotshot Pilot Poe Dameron, Kylo is mothman, Mafia Princess Rey (not) Palpatine, Monster Hunter Armitage Hux, Not 1950s accurate, Rey Palpatine, Tech Nerd Finn, Telling you how Phasma gets here would be a spoiler, Tenacious Girl Reporter Rose Tico, but not really, we're here to have a good time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:28:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27186566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnaBolyn/pseuds/AnaBolyn
Summary: In the fall of 1955, the sleepy small town of Naboo Lake is rocked by reports of a creature! Some witnesses claim it to be part moth part man, while others say it is the devil himself. Whether the reports are true or not, Rose Tico from the Naboo Lake Times relays them all gleefully to her best friend, discrased mafia princess Rey. But when the mothman doesn't turn out to be the monster everyone assumes, will Rey have the courage to tell her best friend? Or will everyone be caught completely unawares by the real danger threatening the town?Somewhat Inspired by Parcast's Extrarrestrial episode on the Mothman, with elements taken from the Skinwalker Ranch episode of Supernatural with Ashley Flowers. Things will get updated when I'm not on a mobile device. I think it will wind up being 10 chapters or so.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6





	1. Making Fiends

**Author's Note:**

> Happy spooky season! Today I've got for you a cheesy B movie treat that's half finished in my drive, and sure to make you scream in delight. Updates will come as I get free moments from work that I don't spend unconcious.

Rey anxiously grips the steering wheel of her car. _It’s not a crime to be out this late._ she thought to herself. And she is doing nothing illegal, so long as she didn’t go inside the abandoned buildings. The area around them is a nature preserve, an open place left barely touched for leisure time. Which is exactly what she’s doing. The Bel Air rattles on the dirt road as she drives along, looking around for… well, she’s not sure what she's really looking for. Her conversation over lunch with Rose plays over and over again in her head. 

“So, Betty Lynne Kripskey called the tipline this morning.” says Rose. Her job at the local newspaper provides fodder for most of their conversations. The editor keeps saying he’ll let her write a column eventually, but for now she answers the tipline and hears the latest of the small, sleepy town’s gossip.

“Again? What was it this time? It better not be more kids riding their bikes at just barely sunset.” 

“The moral decay of today’s youth!” Rose wails mockingly, holding her hand over her heart. “Nah, for once she actually had something interesting to say.” 

“Oh?” 

“Mhm. She claims she saw something out in the woods, in Gillath. She didn’t get more than a large frame and glowing red eyes, but she insisted it was Satan himself.” 

“Of course she did.” Rey sips her lemonade. 

“But she wasn’t the only one!” Rose exclaims. 

“What?” 

“Yeah so the Connix girl and some of her friends were out in Gillath last night, and she called me to say they saw something too! Large frame, glowing red eyes, and _wings!_ Called it the mothman, can you believe that?” 

“And it had nothing to do with anything they were out there to do?” Rey raises an eyebrow.

“She said they never even got out of the car. Got the hell out of dodge the moment they saw him. I’m wondering if it’s the mysterious prowler people keep calling in about.” 

“I suppose it could be. Anything else interesting?” 

“Beyond the usual lost pets, complaints about the munitions factory still existing, and questions about the weather, no.” 

“So how is the weather?” she teases.

“I will come over this table and strangle you.” Rose scrunches her nose. 

She doesn’t quite get stories like that working at the library, not true ones anyway. The job does provide her ample time to consume fiction at an unhealthy pace though. She’s never been much of a fan of reality, even if Rose makes it seem interesting. Of course Mrs Kripskey saw the devil in the woods; give her half the inclination and she’ll see him in her cereal bowl too. And Gillath is the perfect place to get up to trouble, there’s no shortage of places to avoid prying eyes or parents. The munitions plant looms in the distance, the rising moon just behind it. 

Rey sighs, parking her car in a decently lit area. She might as well enjoy the crisp Fall air and read one of her many books while she’s out here. She grabs a blanket from her back seat, and wanders over to the picnic benches. A pang of disappointment hits her as she scans the treeline and finds nothing out of the ordinary. She doesn’t know what she really expected. The kids probably saw an owl and Mrs Kripskey went too hard on the sherry. She opens to her last saved page and focuses on her book. There’s at least an adventure in there. 

Rey spends hours in her book, no different from what she would do at home at this time. She doesn’t have much interest in radio dramas, and it’s Wednesday, so no cheesy science fiction movies with Vampira. Her watch reads late, too late, especially with work in the morning. She begins the walk back to her car when something catches her ear. Feet crunching in the dried leaves, too big to be a deer. But when she spins around, she sees nothing and the crunching is gone. Whatever it was, she must have scared it away. But when she looks back to her car, she sees something. A large figure is examining her Bel Air, one of the few luxuries she’s ever allowed herself to have, and it has wings. She wants to scream, to tell it to leave her car alone, but the words die in her throat. She creeps over cautiously, hoping to get a closer look at the creature. It’s enormous, at least six feet tall. Two fuzzy antennae protrude from its head, moving gently in the breeze. The wings hang from its shoulders like a cloak, and she sees they’re not solid black, but feature some white and orange spots, and shimmer slightly in the dim light. She’s so enamored with the creature she doesn’t pay attention to where she’s walking, and she trips, thudding on the dirt below. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the creature move, unfurling its large wings and leaping into the air. 

“Wait!” she cries out in desperation. The creature hovers in the air, looking at her curiously. She hurriedly pulls herself up, wincing at the pain in her scraped up palms, to meet the creature. It moves over her car before softly landing on the ground. Rey pants in the cold air, stopping just feet before the creature. 

“You’re- you’re real.” she huffs. The creature nods its head slowly. Rey can’t believe her luck, it’s real and she’s not only looking at it she’s talking to it. 

“I’m Rey.” she watches as the creature examines her. Rey gets a good look at it too. Other than the eyes, he has a very human face and up close he looks more masculine than she expected, broad shouldered and muscular. But there’s a gentleness to him as well. He’s hardly the devil Mrs Kripskey described. 

“Can you talk? Do you have a name?” she asks, watching him from the corner of her eye. 

“Kylo.” he almost hums, antennae twitching lightly. The grey fuzz over his body doesn’t fully extend to his face, which is bright white against the night. He even has human looking hair, but shaggy and unkempt like a beatnik’s. 

“You’re the Mothman.” she blurts out.

“Moth-man?” 

“Sorry, that’s what people are calling you. The Mothman. You’ve made quite a stir around town.” she says. She can feel his breath on her skin as he looks closer at her face. 

“Can I touch you?” 

“What?” 

“Your skin. Can I touch it? I won’t hurt you. Promise.” he asks. Rey holds out a shaky hand to him, which he takes in his own. His fingers gently move up and down her arm, brushing from her nails to the cuff of her sweater. 

“Soft.” 

“Thanks.” She feels her cheeks heat up, and hopes Kylo can’t see that. He focuses on her arm, slowly moving his fingers up and down and only stops to occasionally press on a bone or a muscle. Never enough to hurt, barely enough to even feel. When he reaches the top of her shoulder, he pulls his hand away. 

"Thank you." 

"You're welcome." Rey gulps. Her heart beats faster, and she's taking deep breaths in hopes of steadying herself. 

"Why didn't you run away?" He asks softly. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Most of your kind run away. If they run to me, it's to cause me harm. But you did neither. Why?" 

"I guess I was curious. I heard the rumors, and I didn't know what to make of them." 

"So you came out expecting danger?" He asks. Rey pauses for a moment. 

"I didn't know what to expect." She almost feels guilty admitting it." 

"And you came anyway." 

"Should I have not?" 

"I don't know." He pauses. "I liked meeting you, Rey." 

"I liked meeting you too." She takes a deep breath. "I've really got to get going. I have work in the morning and-" 

"Will you come again?" His eyes begging her to say yes. 

"I'll be here. Look for me just after sunset." 

"Sunset it is. You get home safe, okay?" 

"I will." She opens the car door and hesitates. "Goodnight, Kylo." 

"Goodnight, Rey." He watches her car pull away, and before she disappears down the road, Kylo flies off into the night.


	2. You Really Can't Stop Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose takes on new responsibilities that may lead her right to Rey's new secret.

Rey slept oddly well for having met the mothman the night before. Whatever she was expecting, the gentle giant who took her hand wasn’t it. She rolls her book cart along with her in the quiet library. A few patrons are lurking around here and there off in their own little islands of thought. This crowd will likely clear out when the high school lets out and kids come in, some with the intention of doing homework and some with the intention of playing around and cutting up but doing it in the library so they can tell their parents they did their homework. Then they’ll go on with their lives. They’ll go to football games and to the drive in with their friends and do all the fun things teenagers do. And Rey? Well, she’ll go to lunch, and then back to work, and then home. And Gillath, though it scares her just as much as it excites her.

Rey sighs at her lack of a social life. Her only friend is Rose, and she’s more like a sister. Her daily lunches with the lively reporter are the most social interaction she gets. Most of the town still viewed her as the Palpatine Princess, the suspicious child of notorious mobsters who has either never done anything criminal or never been caught. While the Ticos hadn’t been present for what turned out to be the largest organized crime bust in state history, Rose attached herself to the other lonely girl in the class before anybody had told the immigrant family the truth about their daughter’s new friend. Eventually the rest of the family had warmed up to her, and even had her over for holidays.

The diner bell dinged as Rey entered, and Rose excitedly waves her over to their usual table. 

"Joy Henderson told me the wildest story this morning. She said Tommy went out to check on the cows and they were gone." 

"They got out?" 

"No. Well, yes. You see, they weren't in the pasture. And there weren't any breaks in the fence. It was like they had just up and vanished." 

"But you said they got out?" 

"Let me finish!" Rose took a big gulp of her sweet tea, "so he went out to go look for them, because what else are you gonna do, that's an entire head of cattle that's up and gone poof. And he finds them five miles north and across the river!" 

"Any clue how they got there?" 

"Not a one! Anyway, so I've got the best news from this whole ordeal." Rose chews on her grilled cheese. 

"Go on?"

"Chet might be letting me do a column on this!" She squeals. Rey nearly chokes on her drink.

"The notorious hardass who told you you'd never be doing anything more than answering phone calls and taking notes?" 

"Guess he was wrong! Told me nobody else wanted to bother with it, but we've been getting too many calls to ignore it. So…" Rose giggles. 

"Rose Tico, girl reporter is on the case!" Rey squeals. 

"This town won't know what hit them!" She cheers. 

"Well I don't know about you, but this seems like the perfect occasion for pie." 

"I'll never say no to pie." 

"It'll be my treat." 

"Rey, I can't let you do that!" 

"I insist. You need to worry more about your big investigation." 

"Mothman watch out, Rose Tico is on the case!" says Rose. 

Rey clapped for her friend, ignoring the pang in her chest when she mentioned the Mothman. She focuses on her pie and Rose and the linoleum table and the crooner on the jukebox and the smell of coffee and on anything else but the fact she is going to try and find Kylo. She knows she has to tell Rose eventually, but something stops her. How does she know she can trust Kylo? What if he’s not what he seems or he’s like King Kong and she’s Ann Darrow. There may be no Empire State Building in Naboo Lake, but the pine trees are pretty tall and she’s not sure she wants to see the town from that high up. 

Rey’s anxieties prey on her through the rest of her workday and through her long drive home to Palpatine House, a Victorian asylum turned family home that sat all alone at the top of an isolated hill. When her mother was still alive, she did her best to keep the house in perfect condition on the off chance company stopped by. They never did, of course, not until her health finally failed her and even then only long enough for funeral and subsequent wake where the supposed mourners were more interested in poking around the halls and grounds like an interactive museum. Even Rose wasn't comfortable in the house, but she was polite enough to blame it on the morgue in the basement, and other remnants of the home's former purpose. So Rey kept up with the handful of rooms she occupied, and kept the rest of the home just dusted enough that it didn't mold, bar the morgue which she preferred to forget was there.

Her footsteps echoed in the grand foyer as she made her way to the kitchen. Lunch was too long ago, and she knew she needed to eat something before heading over to Gillath that evening. She idly wonders what Kylo eats while preparing a sandwich for herself. None of the cows had bite marks taken out of them, thank goodness, but what of the other missing pets and the countless wildlife in the surrounding forest, and shudders at the thought of Kylo stalking a helpless deer. Maybe she’ll see if she has any books on moths in her own library before checking the public library at work. It’d mean she may have to wait longer for an answer, but it’s far better than arousing more suspicion or possibly alienating Kylo. While he was definitely inhuman, there was something endearing about him that she couldn’t ignore. Maybe it’s a sign she’s gone mad, or should get out more. Either way, she’s keeping her questions to herself so she didn’t alienate a potential friend. 

She's even more nervous driving up tonight. Kylo couldn't possibly want to hurt her, could he? He's too thoughtful and gentle. And even if he is a monster, Ann Darrow lives so there’s no reason she couldn’t use whatever charms she can muster up to do the same. Rey rubs the back of her neck to relieve some of the tension before putting her car in park. She doesn't have to wait long before she spots Kylo in the trees, his large wings folding back in on themselves as he lands by her car door. She opens the door, and absentmindedly accepts Kylo's hand to help her out of her car. 

"Good evening, Rey." He smiles at her, revealing odd looking teeth that Rey quickly tries to shove out of her mind. 

"Nice to see you Kylo." 

“I was worried you wouldn’t come.” 

“Why wouldn’t I?” 

“I don’t know.” he frowns. 

“Well, I came.” she fidgets with her hands. Crickets chirp, making the silence that much more noticeable. 

The picnic bench feels smaller with Kylo's bulky frame across from her. It's not even like he was trying to look big and imposing, he just was. 

"So what do you do during the day?" 

"I stay in a warehouse. It's a good place to hide." 

"Do they leave explosives in them?" 

"What?" 

"Explosives. During the war this whole area was fenced off as a munitions plant." 

"There's a bunch of crates, but I don't know what's in them." 

"Well have you looked in any of them?" 

"Just a few. They all have these red sticks in them. Why do you want to know?" 

"It's just… it's been locked up for decades. The only people who have been inside those gates for over a decade are delinquents." 

"The kids that came by the other night didn't seem too bad." 

"I don't know if I'd call the Connix girl nice." 

"I wouldn't know, they ran and screamed when they saw me. I've seen a lot of people, but you're the only one that hasn't run from me." He shrugs. 

"Well… don't worry about them too much. Around here they run from anything that doesn't fit the perfect image they have in their heads." 

"What do you mean?" Kylo tilts his head to the side, brow furrowed in confusion. Rey bites her lip.

"Nevermind that. Just be careful." 

"Does that mean I should stay away from the lights?" 

"What?"

"There's a lot of lights here. I like lights." 

"Well, you can look, but try to not be noticed." 

"Don't be noticed, got it," he pauses. "Will you still have your lights?" 

"What lights?" 

"The ones on your car. It's how I knew you were here." Rey stares at him, slack jawed and stammering.

"I'll always have a light for you to find me." She says. He gives her a soft eyed smile, and she feels like she just drank a good wine. Soft, floaty, and warm all over. The comfort of the moment is interrupted by a blast of cold wind, and she reflexively wraps her arms around herself. Kylo's up and unfurls his wings in an instant, shielding her from as much as he can. Just like the rest of him, his wings are massive enough that he can keep a respectable distance from her and still have room to spare. 

"You should get going, it's only going to get colder." He says. 

"How do you know that?" Rey blurts. 

"I'm not really sure. I just do." He keeps one wing curled protectively around her shoulder as he walks her back to her car, but keeps the distance between them. 

"I'll be back tomorrow. With a real jacket." She smiles.

"And I'll look out for your lights." 

On the long drive back to Palpatine house, Rey decides she doesn't need to know if Kylo's the killer. Not yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to Pashi, who puts up with more shit than she deserves. In research for this I found that apparently wings need to be 4x the size of the human or humanoid they grow on. But since this is fiction, I think I can fudge things a bit.


	3. Hot on the Trail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rey's forced to make a decision.

"Still nothing?" 

"No," Rose slams her notebook shut. She'd been camping out at that table in the library since the early days of her investigation, scouring books and old records. She'd had plenty of time to do that the last week and a half. "Last time anybody had seen anything like this was in the 20s, but nothing was dying. Those also stopped suddenly but again, there weren't animal carcasses popping up all over the place." 

Rey still felt uneasy over everything. By day she helped Rose find books, brainstorm theories, and be the best friend she should be. And by night she met with Kylo. 

"But if there were more mothmen wouldn't there be more sightings? And without a 30-year gap?" 

"I don't even know anymore," Rose groans and buries her face in her hands. "I'm starting to wonder if there's more than one creature." Rey's ears perk up. 

"It seems likely. I mean with the amount of dead animals." 

"And they're all at least partially eaten, so it's not like something's doing it only for fun." Rose hrmphs, looking at some rather graphic photographs that Rey never wants to see again. "What if it's bobcats?" 

"Rose, how would bobcats get the cows out of their pasture and over a bridge?" 

"Well it's just a thought. And there have been more than just the cows." 

"More than just the cows?" Rey raises an eyebrow. Rose nods, going through her papers.

"Mrs. Kripskey's cat was on the roof, and Vernon Shire's horses were found in their trailer a few days ago. Cats getting on roofs or up trees isn't anything new, but horses don't just willingly get into their trailers." 

"Tell me about it. Butterscotch was the worst about traveling." Rey crinkles her nose at the memory of her show pony. She missed him dearly, but the recent events made her glad he had gone on to a better home. 

"You're right, it can't be bobcats. But who, or _what_ , are our mystery monsters? Maybe a raccoon? Or a bear. Evrett Pinkerton at the general store says he's seen something digging through his trash before he leaves at night."

Rey shrugs in response. She knew her friend would defeat this obstacle soon enough if for nothing more than getting her way. And Rey wanted to help her, she really did, but she didn't know how. She was still visiting Kylo in the evenings, though she knew in her heart it had to end soon. Either that or tell her friend the truth. And she's not sure which she's more afraid of. 

"I wish somebody could just catch it, you know? Like, with a net or something. You'd think there were enough hunters in town that they could just trap it or shoot it. I mean, look at this." Rose pulls some photographs out of a pile, graphic ones of animals found mauled and half eaten.

"You're taking pictures?" 

"No, that's disgusting. Dead things are gross."

"Where did you get these?" Rey hopes her face doesn't look as alarmed as she is.

"That's not important! What is important is that _thing_ that did this is still out there! And there's nothing we can do about it!" Rose huffs. The other librarian on duty shushes them.

"Okay, so we catch or kill whatever it is. And then what?" Rey slides the pictures back to Rose. She didn't want to think about these any more than she had to.

"I don't know, I didn't think that far ahead." Rose spins a pencil between her fingers. "Call the Army? Then it'd all be over."

"Yeah…" 

"And I'd go back to answering the phones." Says Rose, with a tinge of regret. 

"Don't say that, Chet could let you write another story!" 

"He won't and you know it. He doesn't even like having me in the office. Says I don't understand the town enough." 

"What's there to understand?" Says Rey.

"There's the vacationers, who come here to spend their money on luxuries. And there's the locals, who pretend there's something here other than lake houses because we had the plant back during the war. And they both like things a certain way, neat and orderly with pleasant smiles and soft voices and nobody makes a fuss about anything because they don't want it to change." Rose waves a dismissive pencil.

"That's basically it, and I was born here." 

"But if the Mothman of Naboo Lake becomes national news I could go somewhere! I could go anywhere, anywhere with an adventure." 

"Chet doesn't deserve to have you on staff." 

"... and Mom and Dad would be all alone." 

"No they wouldn't, they'd have me!" 

Rose gives her a pained look, a look that says everything. Rey pulls her into her arms for a hug before the tears fall. 

Rey remembered Paige. She was impossible to forget. Paige had a lively presence that made every day fun. She was a bright light who always knew what to say or do to help, if not outright make things better. And then one day she was gone. No warning, no goodbye, no note, just… gone. They filed the missing persons report, scoured the area, made flyers, even made a plea on the radio. That was three years ago. Paige hasn't been seen since. 

"Sorry to be like this. We're supposed to be working and here I am…" 

"It's alright. I miss her too." Rey rubs her friend's shoulder. 

"We don't even have a body, Rey. She could be dead in a ditch somewhere or a Jane Doe and we'd never know." 

"Maybe after this mothman business is over, that can be your next great investigation." 

"If I can solve it." 

"When you solve it." 

"If I can't solve this, how could I find Paige?" 

"You will. I don't know how, but you will." 

And Rey knows what she has to do.

\--

This time, Rey shut off the radio on her drive up. Not like she could focus on it anyway. Words spun around in her head, occasionally coming together in sentences. 

_"Because you're an unnatural freak that wasn't created by any god in any pantheon I know about."_

No, absolutely not. She couldn't bring herself to hurt him like that.

 _"Because I don't have time to keep coming up here."_

But that didn't feel right either.

 _"Because I have too much to lose if we're found out."_

Who was she kidding, no she didn't. She had to think of something else. 

_Because…_

_Because…_

_Because…_

She knew she was screwed when her turn to the picnic grounds came up. Kylo greeted her with his usual gentleness. He was saying words but Rey didn't understand them through the storm in her head. 

"Kylo I don't know if I can see you anymore." Rey blurts. Kylo stopped talking long enough to blink at her a few times. 

"Why?" 

"I just... I can't." 

"Did I do something? I'm sorry, I don't know what I did but I'm sorry." 

"It's not you it's… I don't know how to explain." She groans. 

"I don't understand." 

"I don't know how else to explain this to you!" 

"You haven't explained anything." 

"Kylo, do you have anything to do with the animal deaths around town?" Rey demands. Kylo blinks at her in confusion. 

"There are animals dying?" 

"Yes! And other freaky things happening. Dogs are being found on roofs, horses in their trailers. Cows miles and miles away from where they're supposed to be. And the carcasses…" 

"What about the carcasses?" 

"Did you do this?" She shows him the picture she swiped from Rose, still not entirely sure where the reporter got it from. Kylo recoils in horror.

"Well?" She asks again. 

"I… no. Heck no. That's… I can't eat animals, even if I wanted to." 

"Then what did?" 

"I don't know, can you please put that away?" He begs. Rey sighs and puts the picture back in her handbag. 

"I'm sorry, Rey." 

"You don't know anything?" She asks again. He shakes his head. 

"Is… that why you can't visit me anymore?" His voice quivers slightly. 

"No, I mean yes… well kind of? It's hard to explain." 

"Are you worried about you?" 

"I probably should be but I'm not." 

"Then what's going on?" He asks. Rey sighs, and begins telling him the truth.

Kylo, much to his credit, is a good listener. She tells him about what really brought her up here that night, the findings since, and about the misplaced livestock and pets winding up in places they shouldn’t be and these animal carcasses popping up right and left. He nods and mulls over the information. 

“I should meet Rose myself. And clear everything up.” 

“And tell her what?” 

“That it’s not me of course.” 

“That’s not going to fix it, she wants to find what’s killing these animals.” 

“Maybe it is bobcats. Stranger things have happened.” 

“What makes _you_ think it’s bobcats?” 

“Rey I haven’t gone very far from here since meeting you, but I haven’t seen anything else around here that could do… that to an animal. Just bring Rose up here and I’m sure she’ll understand.” 

“And what if she doesn’t?” Kylo shrugs off her question.

“Do you have any better ideas?” 

“Fine I’ll… I’ll figure something out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY KMT! And hello to all you lovelies too. Hope you enjoy! I've begun working on some fun things for Valentine's day, hammering away at other WIPs. Oh, and I got the covid vaccine, how cool is that? My twitter is still @bolyn-ana if you want to hang out!


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